Daily Archives: 13 Oct 2009

Property boost helps SPH weather tough year

Posted on 13 Oct 2009 | Comments Off on Property boost helps SPH weather tough year

Profit slips just 3.6% to $422m; recurring earnings also sturdy at $497m

In spite of challenging conditions, media group Singapore Press Holdings yesterday reported a net profit of $421.9 million for the year ended Aug 31, 2009, 3.6 per cent lower than the preceding year’s $437.4 million.

Revenue held steady at $1.3 billion as a surge in property revenue compensated for a 12 per cent fall in the core newspaper and magazine segment.

SPH publishes 17 newspapers, including The Business Times, and more than 100 magazine titles.

The company announced a final dividend of 18 cents a share, comprising a normal dividend of 9 cents and a special dividend of 9 cents, to be paid on Dec 23.

Total payout for FY2009 is 25 cents, or 6.4 per cent based on yesterday’s closing price of $3.88 a share. Earnings per share was 26 cents, compared with 27 cents for the preceding year. Continue reading →

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Posted in Property Market / Real Estate

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A struggle to preserve the view of Mt Fuji

Posted on 13 Oct 2009 | Comments Off on A struggle to preserve the view of Mt Fuji

Group of residents faces stiff resistance from officials and developers

Growing up in prewar Tokyo, Makoto Kaneko recalls that the perfectly shaped, snow-capped cone of Mount Fuji was like a constant companion, visible on the horizon from the narrow streets of his hilly working-class neighbourhood.

Grand vista: For now, two-thirds of Mt Fuji is still visible, but residents reckon it is probably just a matter of time before another building blocks what’s left

The most majestic view was from a steep hillside affectionately named Fujimizaka, ‘the slope for seeing Mount Fuji’.

Today, Mr Kaneko’s cramped 80-year-old shop selling foods cooked in soy sauce is one of several old wooden stores and Buddhist temples that still stand here, making the Nippori neighbourhood a rare oasis of medieval charm in Tokyo’s concrete sprawl.

But the distant volcano, Japan’s tallest peak and pre-eminent national symbol, has been increasingly blocked by skyscrapers and smog.

Mr Kaneko said he and other residents did not mind because they still had the vista from Fujimizaka, which has become a minor tourist attraction.

Then, one day a decade ago, they learned of plans for a 14-story apartment building 1.6 kilometres away that would partly obstruct that view. Continue reading →

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Posted in Overseas Property

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